Apparatus for rolling tubes.



No. 68!,557. Patented Aug. 27, l90l.

n. LAYBOUBNE, c. w. E. MARSH & B. PRICE. APPARATUS FOR ROLLING TUBES.

I (Apphcation filed May 20, 1901.) (N o M o d e I 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

Wit/ W0 H amemtozs attorney 8 ERS COY. wow-Lima. WASHINGTON n c Patented Aug. 27, I90I. R. LAYBOUBNE, C. W. E. MARSH &. B. PRICE.

APPARATUS FOR ROLLING TUBES.

(Application filed May 20, 1901.) (No Model.) 2 Shaets8heet 2.

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NlTE TATES ATENT Erica.

RICHARD LAYBOURNE, CHARLES W. E. MARSH, AND BENJAMIN PRICE, OF NEWPORT, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR ROLLING TUBES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 681,557, dated August 27, 1901.

Serial No. 61,150- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RICHARD LAYBOURNE and CHARLES WILLIAM EARLE MARSH, civil engineers, and BENJAMIN PRICE, engineer,

residing at Newport, in the county of Monmouth, England, subjects of the King of Great Britain, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Rolling Tubes, of which the following is a specifica- IO tion.

This invention relates to the step-by-step rolling of tubes upon mandrels by sectors, segmental rolls, or dies that act intermittently upon the work-piece which is being rolled,(and

which is advanced intermittently forward with the mandrel between the rolls housed in a reciprocating slide, for instance, as described in our United States patent, dated November 3, 1896, No. 570,816,) and the prescut invention relates more especially to the feed arrangement and to extracting the mandril after the work-piece has been acted upon by the rolls without removing it from its position on the feed-screw, in which it has been previously secured by suitable means. After the completion of rolling the tube from the blank the motion of the feed-screw, which has previously carried the work-piece forward intermittently between the rolls, (when said rolls release the tube by their recessed or enlarged grooves,) is reversed and the same is brought back to the desired position in a suitable nut affixed to a sliding saddle mounted on a bed attached to the main frame of the apparatus. During this return motion of the feed-screw the tube which has been rolled may be prevented from moving back by a suitable U-shaped die or spanner or other suitable device which prevents the passage 0 (rearward longitudinal movement) of the tube, and as a result the mandrel is extracted and may be succssively used for rolling other tubes without removing it to a separate draw bench or press for extracting it from the tube. Some means of cooling the mandrel may be employed, if necessary, such as sprays of water, after extraction. The intermittent forward and turning movement of the mandrel and work-piece is accomplished (for the pur- 5o pose of bringing the latter step by step between the rolls to be acted upon by them) by a suitable cam advantageously mounted upon the main crank-shaft of the apparatus. Thus a synchronous movement of the rolls, mandrel, and tube is insured from the cam. Suit- 5'5 able connecting-rods, shafts, and links are employed to transmit the necessary motions to the feed-screw and blank. To the sliding saddle carrying the feed-screw a rod actuated by water or steam or other suitable means is attached for the purpose of bringing the forward end of the work-piece in position as quick as possible between the operating-rolls after it is placed upon the mandrel. By the same means the saddle is brought back upon the bed and the mandrel may be extracted and be ready for the following work-piece to be placed thereon to be formed into a tube of the desired diameter and thickness of wall. The feed-screw may be reversed in any suitable manner-for instance, by means of a rack fixed to the bed and in which gears a suitable wheel operating (through suitable intermediate mechanism) another wheel mounted upon the said feed-screw, and the mandrel may be withdrawn from the rolled tube at the same time. Suitable gearing actuated by the main driving-shaft or a suitable motor acting independently of the said main shaft may also be adopted for this purpose. The motion to the feed-screw may be given at the same time by clutches or other suitable devices, which are advantageously arranged to be thrown in and out of gear when desired. 7 For the purpose of placing the work-piece in p a predetermined position upon the mandrel and, if necessary, to prevent the flow of metal backward upon the mandrel when the blank is acted upon by the rolls the end of the feedscrew next to the rolls is provided with a double sleeve or two sleeves-2'. e., an outer and an inner one. The outer sleeve is secured to the end of the feed-screw by suitable means, and its inner surface may be provided with a screw-thread, preferably of the same pitch 5 as that of the feed-screw, or may be adapted to slide over the feed-screw, and the inner sleeve is bored out to receive the mandrel, which is secured to the feed-screw. On the outer surface of the inner sleeve a screwthread is cut that it may screw into the outer sleeve when necessary. Before the operation of rolling is proceeded with the inner sleeve is screwed in a short distance into the outer sleeve and the mandrel passes through both and is secured to the feed-screw. The saddle carrying the feed-screw gear is brought back upon the bed attached to the main frame, so that it is possible to place the heated blank upon the mandrel and against the end of the inner sleeve, which forms a regulating-stop. When the blank is in position, the saddle is moved forward, advantageously by a rod secured to it and actuated by steam, water, or othersuitable means, upon the bed and against a stop which governs the extent of its travel. In this position the feed-screw is put in motion, as the forward end of the blank is then near the entrance of the rolls. The feedscrew acting intermittently carries the mandrel, blank, (i. a, work-piece,) and outer and inner sleeves forward, and at the same time rotates them sufficiently, so that all parts of the blanks are brought successively between the rolls. when but a short portion of the rear end of the blank remains unworked upon, the inner sleeve, which is next to the blank, is prevented from rotating by a collar thereon coming in contact with a fixed crossbar at a suitable period of the operation, and as a result it remains stationary, and the outer sleeve, secured to the feed-screw at one end, screws over it-z'. 6., the inner sleeve-and the mandrel, also affixed to the feed-screw, carries the blank farther and farther between the rolls until the whole of the blank is acted upon by the rolls. When this is completed, the motion of the screw is reversed, and the mandrel may be withdrawn by placing an obstruction in the rearward path of travel of the tube-for instance, by interposing a U- shaped die or other suitable device behind the fixed cross-bar, which has been in contact with the inner sleeve. The tube after the mandrel is withdrawn is removed from the mill, the mandrel cooled, if necessary, the inner sleeve readjusted, and the apparatus is readyforanother blank. If found necessary, an elastic cushion in the form of springs, air, steam, dud, incased in a cylinder may be used, so that the saddle carrying the feedgcar will not be too rigid upon the bed, but maybe allowed to have a slight motion in either direction. This motion may be used for the purpose of turning and feeding the tube forward independently of the cam upon the crank-shaft.

Referring to the drawings hereunto annexed, Figure l is a side elevation of our apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of some of the details of construction. Fig. 4=is a side View showing a modified form of sleeve. Fig. 5 shows the spanner. Fig. 6 isaside elevation, partlyin section, of a modified form of a screw-reversing gearing; and Fig. 7 is a plan view of the same.

In Fig. l is shown the feed arrangement to advance the mandrel and work-piece intermittently forward and to turn the said mandrel and work-piece partially around its axis at each stroke of the rolls.

In Fig. 2 the feeding arrangement is shown detached from the main frame carrying the rolls, &c., the housing carrying the rolls and the feed-actuating mechanism being shown.

The end of the feed-screw I carried in the saddle K is provided with a sleeve P, which is furnished with an internal screw-thread of the same pitch as that of the feed-screw. An inside sleeve S-(bored out to receive the mandrel N, which latter is secured to the feedscrew I by a cotter Z) is adapted to screw in the outer sleeve P when required. Theiuner sleeve S during the greater part of the rolling operation is turned and advanced, with the outer sleeve P secured to the main feed-screw I, preventing the backward flow of the metal billet when the rolls impinge upon it, thus compelling the metal to flow over the mandrel in the form of waves, which gradually disappear as the rolls travel over them and reduce the comparatively thick-shell hollow ingot into a thin shell tube. When a small portion of the billet is left at the rear end unworked, the collar S of the inner sleeve S, ad vancing intermittently forward, eventually comes in contact with the fixed cross-bar W, secured to the brackets W, bolted to the base, and is thereby prevented from advancing and turning with the outer sleeve P and the feedscrew I, with the result that the outer sleeve screws itself over it, (the inner sleeve,) and the feed-screw I carries the mandrel N, with the nearly-finished tube 0, farther and farther between the rolls V V until the whole of the billet has been reduced to the desired size, as shown in Fig. 3. It will readily be seen by comparing the position of the outer sleeve in Figs. 1 and 3how the mandrel N, with the outer sleeve P, has advanced with the tube 0, but without the inner sleeve S.

In the position shown in Fig. 3 the clutch A is thrown out of gear by the lever T, and the movement of the feed-screw I comes to a standstill. If it is desired, the mandrel N can be released from the feed-screw I by removing the cotterZ when the rolling has been completed, and the tube 0 and mandrelNcan then be removed to a suitable bench or press and the mandrel withdrawn. The mandrel may, however, be withdrawn from the finished tube without removing it from the screw by means of the spanner U, Fig. 5, which can be placed over the mandrel N when the rolling operation is completed, said spanner being adapted to slip over the exposed part of the mandrel N. When the screw I is reversed or when the saddle K is carried bodily over the bed by means of the cylinder M, the spanner U is placed over the mandrel N and in position behind the cross-bar W, and this prevents the tube 0 from moving backward withthe mandrel N, which is forced back with the saddle K or screw 1. To bring the feed-screw into position for rolling the fol IIO lowing ingot, it may be rotated during the backward motion of the saddle upon the bed G by means of the fixed rack B, secured to the bed 0, in which gears a suitable pinion B, which imparts the necessary motion to the feed-screw through the bevel gear-wheels A A The clutch A is adapted to gear in the wheel A during the backward movement of the saddle on the base 0, if necessary. The cylinder M is controlled by the lever R and gives the required movement to the saddle K through the piston-rod H. During the forward travel of the saddle K the clutch is thrown out of gear, and the rotation of the wheel A therefore does not affect the feedscrew I. The stop-piece K serves to regu late the distance the saddle has to advance upon the base 0. The intermittent rotary and advance movement of the feed-screw I is obtained through the shaft F, supported in the bracket E, attached to the saddle K in a suitable manner. The shaft F is provided with a crank P, connected to the cam on the main crank-shaft by the connecting-rod 10, connected to the crank-arm 12 of the crank P. This connecting-rod 10 is reciprocated by the cam-faced wheel 7, carried by the main shaft 6, mounted in the housing 1. The pin 14 upon the crank 15 follows the groove in the cam-wheel '7 and imparts its motion through the rock-shaft S to the crank 9, which transmits its motion to the reciprocating rod 10, which in turn rocks the crank P upon the shaft F. From the shaft F the motion is imparted to the feed-screw I through the connecting -rod 11. The rolls V V may be mounted in any suitable manner, said rolls being shown in the drawings as mounted in the housing 1, upon which is mounted the rack 2, adapted to mesh with the pinion 3 upon the shaft of the roll V mounted in the bearings 5,which bearings are slidably mounted in the housing 1 and are adapted to be reciprocated by the links 4, which may be operated from the main shaft 6; but while I have shown one form of housing it will be understood that I do not limit myself to any particular form of housing, as it is obvious that my invention may be used in conjunction with various forms of housings.

Fig. t shows a modified form of sleeve adapted to slide over the head of the feedscrew when it comes in contact with the crossbar W. This sleeve is not provided with internal screw-threads, but is furnished with longitudinal slots L to enable it to move backward past the cotter Z. A set-pin X serves to adjust it in position and provides the necessary friction to retain it in proper position. When the friction-washer S placed upon the sleeve P comes in contact with the fixed cross-bar W, the sleeve is prevented from advancing forward with the screw. For this purpose the sleeve is bored out to receive head of the screw, which advances in the sleeve. The cotter Z passes through the sleeve, head of screw, and mandrel. A long slot is made in the sleeve to allow the cotter to advance with the head of screw inside the sleeve. The sleeve turns intermittently with the screw through the whole of the operation, but is prevented from advancing only when it is in contact with the cross-bar. When the sleeve is set in position upon the head of screw and before the ingot is placed upon the mandrel, it is tightened by a set-pin X. The friction thus set up is overcome when the sleeve comes in contact with the cross-bar, and after a few turns of the screw the set-pin slips over the head of screw, and the sleeve then can be moved back freely over head of screw.

Fig. 6 shows an elevation, partly sectional, of a modified form of feed-screw-reversing gear. Fig. 7 is aplan ofsame. In this example when it is necessary to turn back the feedscrew I ready for the following billet to be operated upon the clutch A is forced into the wheel A Figs. 6 and 7, which may be allowed to run continuously by means of the wheels A, m, 71,20, and a, mounted upon the shafts o and n. The shaft or may be connected to the main crank-shaft or may be driven from some other suitable shaft or motor. The reversing of the feed-screw may be also turned to account for extracting the mandrel from the tube, as hereinbefore described with reference to Sheet 1 of the drawings.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In apparatus for rolling orswaging metal tubes from hollow ingots step by step in which the rolls or swaging devices are journaled in housings adapted to be bodily reciprocated along the ingot and having a feedscrew and mandrel adapted to intermittently advance and rotate the hollow ingot on said mandrel-the combination with such feedscrew and mandrel of an inner and outer sleeve which are together adapted to advance and rotate therewith intermittently until only a short portion of the ingot is left unworked, and means to then hold the inner sleeve and prevent same rotating and advancing any farther whereupon the outer sleeve will pass over said inner sleeve and advance the mandrel through the latter and thereby allow the remainder of the ingot to be operated upon step by step by the rolls, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.

2. In apparatus for rolling or swaging metal tubes from hollow ingots step by step in which the rolls or swaging devices are journaled in housings adapted to be bodily reciproeated along the ingot and having a feedscrew and mandrel adapted to intermittently advance and rotate the hollow ingot on said mandrel-the combination with such feedscrew and mandrel of a sleeve adapted to advance therewith intermittently until only a short portion of the ingot is left unworked and means to then hold the said sleeve and prevent same from advancing any farther whereupon the mandrel will be advanced therethrough and thereby allow the remainder of the ingot to be operated upon step by step by the rolls substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.

3. In apparatus for rolling or swaging metal tubes from hollow ingots step by step in which the rolls or swaging devices are journaled in housings adapted to be bodily reciprocated along the ingot and having a feedscrew and mandrel adapted to intermittently advance and rotate the hollow ingot on said mandrel-the combination with means for advancing and rotating the mandrel and hol-,

low ingot intermittently of means to prevent the metal from flowing backward during the rolling operation and means to allow the whole of the tube to pass unimpeded between the rolls to be acted upon thereby, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.

4. In apparatus for rolling orswaging metal tubes from hollow ignots step by step--the combination of rolls or swaging devices journaled in housings adapted to be bodily reciprocated along the ingot, a feed-screw adapted to be intermittently advanced and rotated a mandrel carried on said feed-screw, means to intermittently advance and rotate said feedscrew and mandrel with the ingot thereon, means to prevent the metal from flowing backward along the mandrel during the rolling operation, means to allow the whole of the ingot to pass between the rolls to be acted upon thereby, means to extract the mandrel from the rolled tube without removing said mandrel from the machine, means to rotate the feed-screw after the rolling operation has been completed, and means to force the saddle (carrying said feed-screw) in either direction upon the bed during the intervals between the rolling operation, substantially as and for the purposes described.

5. In apparatus for rolling tubes, the combination of a feed-screw, an inner sleeve surrounding said screw and an outer sleeve surrounding said screw, means for operating said screw to advance and rotate said screw and sleeves intermittently, and means for preventing the inner sleeve from rotating and advancing after it has advanced a certain distance.

6. In apparatus for rolling tubes, the combination of the feed-screw and a mandrel, of a sleeve, means for advancing said feed-screw and sleeve intermittently until only a short portion of the ingot is left unworked, and means for preventing the movement of said sleeve at this time, whereby the mandrel will be advanced therethrough.

7. In apparatus for rolling tubes, the combination with a feed-screw, a sleeve thereon and a mandrel of a fixed stop adapted to partially encircle said mandrel.

8. In apparatus for rolling tubes, the combination of a base carrying a rack, a saddle adapted to slide in said base and carrying a pinion gearing with said rack, a feed-screw and connecting-gearing between said feedscrew and said pinion.

9. In apparatus for rolling tubes, the combination with a base, a saddle movable upon said base, a motor adapted to move said saddle backward and forward upon said base, a feed-screw, a sleeve, a mandrel and mechanism for reversing the movement of the feed-screw as the saddle is moved backward upon said base.

10. In apparatus for rolling tubes, the combination of a base, a saddle, a feed-screw carried by said saddle, mechanism for moving said feed-screw intermittently and mechanism for reversing the movement of said-feedscrew during the backward movement of said saddle.

11. In apparatus for rolling tubes, the combination of rolls, a mandrel, means for advancing and rotating the mandrel intermittently, and means for preventing the metal from flowing backward during the rolling op eration beyond a certain point.

12. In apparatus for rolling tubes, the combination of a mandrel, means for intermittently advancing and rotating said mandrel including a feed-screw, means for preventing the metal from flowing backward along the mandrel during the rolling operation, and means for extracting the mandrel from the tube without removing said mandrel from the machine.

13. In apparatus for rolling tubes, the combination with a feed-screw, a sleeve fixed thereto having internal screw-threads, a second sleeve provided with external screwthreads at one end and a stop at the other end, and means for rotating said feed-screw, whereby the feed-screw and both sleeves will be moved forward by the rotation of the screw a certain distance, and then the larger sleeve will advance over the smaller sleeve. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two witnesses.

R. LAYBOURNE. O. W. E. MARSH. B. PRICE. \Vitnesses:

WM. WADE, D. 'I. NEWTON WADE. 

